Folding machine



May 27, 1941. c. 'r. BATCHELDER' FOLDING MACHINE Filed De c. 27, 1939 Patented May 27, 1941 UNHTED sr'rss FOLDING MACHINE Jersey Application December 27, 1939, Serial No. 311,188

6 Claims.

This invention relates to folding machines and is herein shown as embodied in a machine of the type shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,147,749, granted February 21, 1939, on an application filed in the name of H. B. Miller. Machines of this type are particularly intended for folding the skived margins of leather shoe parts, although their use is not so limited.

In machines of this type, the work is fed intermittently over a work support. A folding finger reciprocates in the path of movement of the work and bends the edge of the work against a creaser foot which also acts to hold the work on the support. The edge which has been bent upwardly by the folding finger is subsequently pressed by a hammer and cooperating anvil, these latter parts also serving to impart the feeding movement to the work. In order properly to prepare the edge to be pressed by the hammer, the edge is bent back on itself somewhat by the folding finger which reciprocates in a path which is at an acute angle to the supporting surface of the work support. The creaser foot is mounted for vertical yielding movement so as to accommodate different thicknesses of work such as formed by seams. The support on which the folding finger is mounted for vertical yielding movement is pivoted about a substantially horizontal axis above the work support so that the creaser foot may be moved upwardly and away from the folding finger by a pivotal movementthereof to facilitate the introduction of a work piece in the machine.

With this arrangement, when a portion of the work of an increased thickness passes under the creaser foot, causing the creaser foot to yield vertically, the surface against which the material is folded by the folding finger will move closer to the path of movement of the folding finger since this path of movement is inclined with respect to the upper surface of the work support. Accordingly, in order to accommodate the work between the creaser foot and the folding finger, the pressure exerted by the folding finger will cause movement of the creaser foot away therefrom about its pivotal support to offset the reduction in spacing between the creaser foot and the folding finger. Since the creaser foot is pressed against the body of the work, the work is moved with it as it swings away from the folding finger,

with the result that less material is engaged by the folding finger and therefore the width of fold will be reduced as the thickness of the material increases.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a support for the creaser foot which will permit yielding movement thereof as seams or other thick portions of the work are encountered, without varying the spacing between the creaser foot and the folding finger to the end that folds of substantially uniform width may be formed regardless of variations in thickness of the edge of the work being folded.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the creaser foot is mounted for yielding movement upwardly in a path which is parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger. With this arrangement, when thick seams or other thick portions of the work pass below the creaser foot, the creaser foot will Yield upwardly but in a path which is parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger so that the space between the folding finger and the creaser foot will not vary. There will accordingly be less tendency for the creaser foot to be moved away from the folding finger about its pivotal support with the result that folds of substantially uniform width may be formed on the edge of the material regardless of variations in the thickness of the edge.

These and other features of the invention will best be understood from a consideration of the following specification, taken in connection with porting means for the creaser foot taken at right angles to Fig. 1; and

Fig, 3 is a view, partly in section, of the creaser foot and the folding finger, illustrating the relationship of these parts.

A work supporting surface It] is formed on the I outer end of an arm H attached to the frame of themachine, the arm enclosing operating mechanism as illustrated in the Miller patent. The arm H supports a gage block i2 adjacent to the supporting surface, the gage block having an upturned plow surface for deflecting the work upwardly. A folding finger M is arranged to be reciprocated in a path which forms an acute angle with the supporting surface ID by mechanism similar to that illustrated in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,702,598, granted February 19, 1929, on an application of P. R. Glass, to form a fold in the work after the edge thereof has been deflected upwardly by the gage block l2.

A creaser foot l6 engages the upper surface of the work and presents a surface adjacent to the folding finger against which the work is folded. The creaser foot l6 also cooperates with a release lever l8 having a portion movable upwardly through the surface of the table ID to hold the work in position for the action of the folding finger IA. The extent to which the work is deflected upwardly by the gage block [-2 is limited by a gage finger engaging the upper surface of the creaser foot l6 and extending through a slot in the gage block. The gage finger 20 is formed at the end of an arm 2| pivotally supported between arms 22 of a bracket having a hollow cylindrical shank portion 23 carried by an arm 24 of the machine. A spring 25 acts on the arm 2| to urge the gage finger 20 downwardly against the upper surface of the creaser foot I6.

A hammer 26 is arranged to press the fold against an anvil 2'! after the margin of the work has been folded by the finger M. The hammer and anvil also provide means for feeding the Work intermittently between upward movements of the folding finger l4 at which times the release lever IB is moved downwardly to relieve the pressure on the work by the creaser foot IS. A knife 28 is arranged to snip the margin of the work when an incurved portion is being folded. This knife may be operated by mechanism of the type illustrated in the Glass patent referred to above.

The creaser foot I6 is supported by a carrier 30 mounted for swinging movement about pivots 32 in the bracket arms '22. The rear end of the carrier 30 is provided with a finger piece 40 by means of which the forward end of the carrier may be raised upwardly about the pivots 32 to move the creaser foot l6 upwardly and outwardly to facilitate inserting the work therein.

The creaser foot l6 has a rectangular shank portion 42 mounted for sliding movement in a support 44. The support 44 is attached to the forward end of the carrier 3% by a screw 46 and the forward surface of the support 44 against which the shank portion 42 of the creaser foot bears is substantially parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger M. A cover plate 59 is attached to the support 44 by screws 52 extending through slots 54 in the shank 42 of the creaser foot. This cover plate slidably maintains the shank portion of the creaser foot in engagement with the support 44. A plunger 56, mounted in a cylindrical portion of the cover plate 59, bears against a shoulder 58 of the creaser foot to urge the creaser foot downwardly toward the supporting surface I!) under the influence of a spring 52 which engages the upper end of the plunger and may be adjusted by means of a screw 64. Downward movement of the creaser foot is limited by a screw 66 threaded through an offset portion 68 of the shank portion 42, the lower end of the screw engaging the upper surface of the support '44.

As the work to be folded moves under the creaser foot IS, the creaser foot will yield upwardly in accordance with the thickness of the work. Thus, if a thick seam is encountered, the presser foot will yield upwardly to accommodate the same. Since the creaser foot yields upwardly in a path which is substantially parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger 14, or, in other words, at the same angle relative to the work support as that in which the folding finger moves, there will be no change in the distance between the folding finger and the adjacent portion of the creaser foot. Accordingly, as the folding finger moves upwardly to fold the work against the creaser foot, there will always be the same spacing between these members to accommodate the work therebetween so that the tendency for the folding finger to move the creaser foot carrier 30 about its supporting pivots as the work is folded thereby is substantially reduced. In present day machines wherein the creaser foot yields vertically, the space between the creaser foot and the folding finger decreases when thick portions of the work are encountered so that the creaser foot is moved away from the folding finger by the action thereof in order to accommodate the work therebetween. As the creaser foot moves away from the folding finger and, accordingly, from the gage block l2, it exerts a drag on the body of the work since the release lever I8 is in its upper position during upward movements of the folding finger in order that the work is held firmly on that lever by the lower surface of the creaser foot. When work of a flimsy character is being folded, it is extremely difficult for an operator to maintain the edge of the work against the gage finger if the lower end of the creaser foot is moved away from the gage block. When the work is moved away from the gage finger, a smaller width of work is engaged by the folding finger so that the width of the fold will decrease as the work is thus moved by the creaser foot.

With the creaser foot mounted for yielding movement in a path parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger in accordance with the present invention, the space between these members will remain constant regardless of the thickness of the work passing below the folding finger, so that the tendency of the folding finger to be moved away from the gage block is substantially reduced. Accordingly, a more uniform width of fold may be obtained when operating on work of varying thicknesses with less effort on the part of the operator than is possible in constructions employing a vertical slide for the creaser foot.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A folding machine having a folding finger movable in a definite path, and a creaser foot supported for a yielding movement in a path substantially parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger.

2. A folding machine having a folding finger movable in a path inclined with respect to the main body of a work piece the margin of which is to be folded, for forming an acute angle with respect to the main body thereof, and a creaser foot supported for yielding movement in a path substantially parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger.

3. In a folding machine, a work support, a creaser foot for holding the work thereon, a folding finger cooperating therewith to form a fold in the margin of the work, said folding finger being movable in a path forming an acute angle with the supporting surface of the work support to cause the margin of the work to be partially folded back upon itself, said creaser foot having a face adjacent to the path of movement of the folding finger against which the margin of the work is folded, and means supporting said creaser foot for yielding movement in a path substantially parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger.

4. In a folding machine, a work support, a creaser foot for holding the work thereon, a folding finger cooperating therewith to form a fold in the margin of the work, said folding finger being movable in a path forming an acute angle with the supporting surface of the work support, a support for the creaser foot mounted for swinging movement about a substantially horizontal aXis, said creaser foot being slidably mounted in the creaser foot support for movement in a path substantially parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger, and means urging said creaser foot toward the work support.

5. In a folding machine, a work support, a creaser foot for holding the work thereon, a folding finger cooperating therewith to form a fold in the margin of the work, a gage against which the work is held in a predetermined position with respect to the folding finger, said folding finger being movable in a path forming an acute angle with the supporting surface of the work support, said creaser foot having a face adjacent to the folding finger against which the work is folded, and means supporting said creaser foot for yielding movement in a path substantially parallel to the path of movement of the folding finger.

6. A folding machine comprising fold-formin means, fold-pressing and work feeding means, said fold-forming means comprising a folding finger, a creaser foot cooperating therewith and against which the margin of the work is folded, said folding finger being reoiprocable in a path which forms an acute angle with the plane in which the work is fed, a creaser foot support, means for mounting said creaser foot support for swinging movement about a substantially horizontal axis, said creaser foot support slidably supporting the creaser foot for movement in a path substantially parallel with the path of movement of the folding finger, means urging said creaser foot toward the Work, and means limiting the movement of said creaser foot thereto.

CLIFTON T. BATCI-IELDER. 

